


The Hiccup Curse

by indigorose50



Category: Junior Express (TV)
Genre: Confessions, Fluff, Friendship, Hiccups, Love Confessions, M/M, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-05
Updated: 2018-10-05
Packaged: 2019-07-25 10:34:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,941
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16195781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/indigorose50/pseuds/indigorose50
Summary: Francis has the hiccups. Rolando wants to help. The rest of the crew wants to help too, in their own ways.





	The Hiccup Curse

**Author's Note:**

> This is a gift fic for [virfujiwara](http://virfujiwara.tumblr.com) whose birthday was on the second! D: Sorry I'm so late! I hope you like this, I've been thinking abut it all day! Love you!

They came as Francis was washing the breakfast dishes. He hiccupped once, paused, and hiccupped again.

“Oh no,” he said to himself.

Though the hiccups persisted, Francis tried to ignore them in favor of the dishes. There was only so much time until lunch after all. But it was no use: with every hiccup, his whole body jolted. He kept dropping perfectly dry dishes back into the soapy water.

After a few minutes of struggle, the door to the kitchen opened. “Hola, Francis!” Rolando said with a wave. “I know we just had breakfast but I could use a snack before practice.” He grabbed an apple from the counter. “Do you need any of these?”

Francis shook his head. At this point he was afraid to open his mouth. He lowered his head to get back to work.

Rolando did not leave however. “Do you need help with those? I could dry for a bit if you want.” Francis shook his head again. “Are you sure?”

Francis tried to say no again but a hiccup made him drop a cup to the floor with a clang.

Rolando rushed over. “Are you okay?” he asked, stooping to pick up the cup.

“I’m fine— _hic_.” Francis clapped a hand over his mouth. Oh no.

Rolando cocked his head. “Do you have the hiccups?”

“Y-Yes.”

“Well that’s not good.” Rolando crossed his arms in thought. “Have you tried holding your breath? That’s supposed to get rid of them.”

“Okay – _hic-_ I’ll try.”

Francis took in a sharp breath and held it. Squeezing his eyes shut in effort, he felt a few hiccups in his chest and tried to keep them at bay.

He wasn’t sure how long he stayed like that but it was evidently long enough to worry Rolando because when Francis opened his eyes, Rolando was inches from his face with a look of alarm. “Breathe, Francis!”

With a gasp, Francis started panting. Rolando put his hands on Francis’ shoulders. “Your face was so red! You didn’t have to hold it THAT long!”

Francis felt his face heat up, and it had nothing to do with being out of breath. Rolando was Too Close. Before he could apologize for worrying Rolando or even tell him to back up a bit, Francis hiccupped.

“It didn’t work...” Rolando gave an encouraging smile. “Don’t worry! I’ll help you get rid of your hiccups! Someone must know how to do it. Let’s ask around.”

Francis tried to protest. “But I need to finish - _hic_ \- finish the dishes first!”

“I’ll help. It’ll go twice as fast that way.”

True to his word, Rolando stood next to Francis and dried as Francis washed. The work did indeed go faster with two people. It was also much more fun with Rolando beside him, even though Francis did hiccup the whole way through.

In no time, the dishes were clean and put away. Rolando clapped his hands and grinned. “Let’s get started.”

Their first stop was Doris. She was touching up her make up in the mirror and saw them enter in its reflection. “Hola!” She spun to greet them. “Here for your outfit tonight, Rolando? It’s a little early.”

“Not yet, Doris.” Rolando pushed Francis in front of him, who hiccupped. “Do you know a way to get someone to stop hiccupping?”

Doris stood up and peered at Francis. He hiccupped again, feeling a little pathetic. “Ah!” She snapped her fingers. “I do know! You have to stop thinking about them.”

“Stop - _hic_ \- thinking about them?”  

“Yes! You need to be distracted! It worked when my wife Josephine had them on our honey moon. Oh she was a mess! All flustered because she couldn’t get them to stop. Sit down, I’ll tell you a story. That should fix everything!” Doris gestured to her little table. Francis sat down, Rolando taking the seat next to him.

Doris sat across from them. “Now, let me tell you about our third date! Let’s see, we were taking a walk in the park by her house and it was SUCH a hot day. She kept stopping to buy me water and ice cream and soda—”

On and on Doris went. The hiccups went on and on as well. Francis was beginning to feel frustrated. Maybe the hiccups would go away on their own but they were extremely annoying. It was a shame that he had to spend one of his few private moments with Rolando making involuntary noises.

A hand gripped his lightly. Francis hiccupped and jumped. Rolando wasn’t watching Doris anymore, but was looking at Francis. He smiled sympathetically and rubbing his thumb against the back of Francis hand. “If this isn’t working we can move on.” He whispered.

Francis gripped his hand a little harder. “Let’s give it a bit longer,” he whispered back. Rolando nodded.

They could have spoken at a normal volume for all Doris noticed. She was engrossed in her story. Francis had been lost in his own thoughts for too long and had lost the plot. Doris went on about a bee hive and a fruit cart and Francis had no idea where they had come from.

After 15 minutes Rolando stood, pulling Francis up with him. “Thanks for your help, Doris, but we’re going to try something else.”

“And then I had to buy her a cute scarf to hide the—” Doris blinked. “Oh. Okay! Good luck, Francis! Come back if you need me to try again!”

The pair waved and left. Francis thought Rolando would let go once they were out of Doris’ room but if anything his grip got tighter. Francis did not mind one bit.

Their next stop was Natalio. After reminding him of his own name and explaining their situation he said, “To stop a hiccup, you have to _think_ like a hiccup.” They left the train car in a hurry.

Next were the other Rulos and Topa. They appeared to be in the middle of practice but stopped when they saw Francis and Rolando. “There you are!” Topa cried. “We started without you!”

Rolando ignore that. “Do any of you know how to get rid of hiccups?”

Carlos and Ricardo looked at each other. Topa seemed a little surprised by the question. Francis simply hiccupped.

“Have you tried drinking water?” Topa suggested.

“No, you’re supposed to _gargle_ water,” Ricardo said.

“I read you have to bite a lemon.”

Everyone raised their eyebrows at Carlos. “How does that help?” Francis asked.

Carlos shrugged. “I just read it somewhere.”

Topa shook his head. “You have to drink water really fast!”

“ _Gargle_ water!”

“I vote for drinking water,” Carlos said raising his hand. “Anyone else?”

Rolando raised a hand. So did Topa. Francis shrugged and put up a hand too. Ricardo grumbled but crossed the room to get water as Carlos made a show of counting the votes. Rolando let go of his hand so Francis could take the water and, though it was still a new sensation, Francis missed the warmth.

Topa motioned for Francis to drink. “Try and do it fast. That should work.” Francis did as instructed. He tipped the glass back and began to drink.

“Faster!” Ricardo called.

“Faster than that,” Carlos said.

“ _Faster_!”

“Fast as the wind.”

A hiccup jumped in Francis’ chest and he gagged on the water. Some water sloshed out of his glass onto the floor. Some fell from his mouth and dribbled down to his uniform. He coughed, wiped his mouth, and discovered that Topa, Carlos, and Ricardo were holding in laughter. And doing a poor job of it.

Humiliated, Francis turned away from them and took his time putting the glass away. His cheeks burned with humiliation. Why did Rolando have to see him looking like an idiot all day?

Again, a hand took his. Rolando, who showed no signs of laughing, held Francis’ hand with both of his. “Sorry about them,” he said. “Let’s try again.”

Heart hammering, Francis could only nod. Rolando shot him a smile and lead him from the room.

The door to the conductor’s car was locked.

“Lila!” Rolando called, knocking hard. “We need to ask you for something!”

When there was no response, Francis tried. “Lila! Open up, please!”

Lila did answer then, though it was from the speakers over their heads instead of through the door. “Sorry,” she said, not sounding it in the slightest. “But I can’t stand the sound of hiccups. Please leave until they’re done.”

Francis knocked again. “Can you at least - _hic_ \- at least give me some advice?”

“Have you tried biting a lemon?”

Rolling his eyes, Francis pulled Rolando away.

Back in the dining car, Francis let go of Rolando and sagged into a chair. “I can just wait for them to go away on their own,” he said. “I don’t want to keep wasting your time.”

“You’re not!” Rolando assured him quickly. “I like spending time with you, even it’s to solve a problem.” He frowned. “I’m just sorry nothing has worked.”

“That’s it!” Francis stood back up as a thought occurred to him. He felt silly for not realizing sooner. It was so obvious. “We have a problem! We need - _hic_ \- we need _help_ to solve it!”

“Did someone say _help_?” The grin was back on Rolando’s face as Melody entered with her cart. She went into her speech about the exits on the Junior Express and only stopped when Francis hiccupped. “Oh dear, do you have the hiccups?”

“Yes!” Francis said, feeling hope for the first time. “I have tried holding my breath, being - _hic_ \- being distracted, and drinking - _hic_ \- drinking water. But nothing has worked!”

Melody hummed and tapped her chin. “Well, we could try the oldest method there is!”

Rolando hit his hand into his palm. “Of course! We need to scare you!”

“Scare me?”

“Or just surprise you,” Melody explained. “Anything that would give you a shock.”

Francis frowned. “But now that I’m expecting a surprise, it won’t be a surprise anymore. I’ll be expecting you to do it.”

Melody winking at Rolando. “It could work if it’s something that would surprise you no matter what,” she said.

Rolando, to Francis’ confusion, blushed. “What does she mean?” Francis asked.

In answer, Rolando cupped Francis’ face and kissed him full on the lips.

Francis froze. The kiss was soft, Rolando’s thumbs caressing his cheeks. From far away, at least it sounded like that to Francis, Melody giggled.

When Rolando pulled away, his face was red. His hands slipped down and rested on Francis’ shoulders for the second time that day. Francis found he couldn’t look away from his expression.

After a few moments, Melody pipped up, “Well, my work here is done! You know how to call me if you need more help!” And she was gone.

It took Francis a second to figure out what she meant. His hiccups _were_ gone. He put a hand to his chest. “You- You made them go away,” he said quietly.

“G-Good.” Rolando cleared his throat and stepped back. “Good. I… I’ve been wanting to do that for a long time.” Suddenly he laughed. “It’s like a fairy tale, right? A magic kiss takes away your curse?”

Francis giggled and leaned forward to press their foreheads together. “Thank you, my handsome prince.”

Rolando smiled. “You’re welcome, equally handsome prince.”

“How about another? Just to make sure the curse is completely gone?”

“Smart idea,” Rolando said leaning forward.

Then he hiccupped.

They looked at each other. Francis snorted, then he and Rolando were laughing.

At least now they knew of a sure fire way to cure the curse of the hiccups.  


End file.
